Data transfer protocols are used to facilitate communication between electronic devices by providing a common set of rules by which data may be exchanged between one device and another. A universal protocol could theoretically allow one device to communicate with any other device, from simple devices like the lights in a room to complex devices like personal computers. However, to approach such an ideal, the protocol itself has to be usable with at least a significant proportion of the devices. Different types of devices have different characteristics such as microprocessor abilities, free memory, and accompanying costs. In addition, consumer devices are produced by a wide variety of manufacturers. Coordination and cooperation in interfacing a wide variety of electronic devices is very difficult. Thus, the need exists for a universal protocol that may be implemented by a large variety of device types produced by various manufacturers.
Many times in the past, manufacturers have made attempts to allow consumer level devices to be able to communicate meaningful data or commands to one another. Many protocols define data links between standard small devices. However, this also meant that usually the “standard” became only a standard for that genre of device. Further, while these protocols provide a data link, they do not provide a standard method to allow simple relevant information transfer between two small devices. For example, a typical pager cannot send control information to any particular cellular telephone requesting the cellular telephone to initiate a call to a certain number; a “caller-ID” box is not able to instruct a PDA to display all the contact information for the person who is calling; and a PDA cannot print or fax (without a modem or special drivers). Thus, a need exists for a universal protocol which can provide a simple data link between a wide variety of devices.